The Island Treasure Part 27

"No, cap; I don't mean fur to go ez fur ez thet,"--replied the other, lowering his fists, but keeping his eye steadily on Captain Snaggs, the two looking at each other straight up and down--"not if yer doesn't lay hands on me; but, if yer dew, why, I reckon I'll hev to take my own part, fur I ain't a-goin' to be knocked about by no man, cap'en or no cap'en, ez we're now ash.o.r.e an' this air a free country!"

"Snakes an' alligators, this air a rum state o' things!" cried the skipper, sobering down a bit at this reply, as well as awed by Hiram's steadfast manner. "But, I don't kinder wish to be at loggerheads with ye, my man, fur ye hev ben a good seaman right through the vy'ge, an I ken pa.s.s over yer sa.s.s, ez I don't think ye means any disrespect."

"Nary a cent, cap," agreed Hiram to this; "nary a cent o' thet."

"But ez fur thet durned n.i.g.g.e.r thaar," continued the skipper, foaming up with pa.s.sion again on seeing Sam and Tom grinning together at his backing down so mildly before Hiram's resolute att.i.tude, neither of them, nor any of us indeed, recognising that he was in a state of delirium, "I'll hev him an' thet scoundrel of a carpenter in irons, an'

tried fur conspi-racy, I guess, when we git back to some civilised port."

"Better wait till ye fetch thaar, boss," said Hiram drily. "I guess we air hard an' fast aground jest now; an' it ain't no good a-talkin' till ye ken do ez ye sez; threat'nin's air all bunk.u.m!"

"I'll soon show ye the rights o' thet," shouted Captain Snaggs, making a rush past Hiram to reach Sam, who drew away behind Tom, just beyond his grasp. "Only let me catch holt on thet durned n.i.g.g.e.r, an' I'll skin him alive. I'll ghost him, I will!"

Hiram, however, protected the darkey with his outstretched arm, thus barring the skipper's advance; while Tom Bullover also stood up in front, further shielding Sam, who now spoke up for himself from his safe position in the rear, whither I too retreated out of harm's way.

"Golly! Ma.s.sa Cap'en," said Sam, with a native dignity and eloquence which I had not previously believed him to possess, "what fur am yer wish ter injure a pore black man like me, dat nebbah done yer no harm?

But fur der impersition ob der good G.o.d abobe us all, yer'd a-murd'red me, as yer taut yer hab dat time dat yer shoots me, an' I tumbles inter de sea?"

"Harm, cuss ye?" retorted Captain Snaggs. "Didn't ye try to pizen me afore I went fur ye? It wer arter thet I drew a bead on ye with my six-shooter!"

"No, Ma.s.s' Snaggs," answered the negro solemnly; "I'se swan I nebbah done dat ting! I'se nebbah pizen yer, nor no man. I'se only put one lilly bit jalap in de grub, fo' joke, 'cause yer turn me out ob de galley fo' nuffin'. I'se only done it fo' joke, I swan!"

"A durned fine joke thet, I reckon," sneered the skipper, snorting and fuming with rage at the recollection. "Why, me an' Flinders hed the mullygrabs fur a week arterwards; an' I guess I don't feel all right yet! I ain't half paid ye fur it, by thunder! But, thet ain't the wust by a durned sight; fur, by yer dodrotted tomfoolery, an' carryin' on with thet scoundrel yer accomplice thaar--thet British hound, Bullover, I mean--ye hev so fuddled every one aboard thet ye hev caused the loss of the shep an' cargy on this air outlandish island. I'll make ye answer fur it, though--I will by the jumpin' Jeehosophet!"

"Ye air wrong thaar, cap," put in Hiram here; "ye air wrong thaar!"

"Wrong! Who sez I'm wrong?"

"I dew," replied the other, in his st.u.r.dy fashion, in no ways abashed by the question--"I sez ye air wrong. It warn't Sam ez lost the ship, or 'cashion'd the wrack in airy a way, nor yet yerself, cap, neither. It wer summat else."

"Thunder!" exclaimed the skipper, puzzled by this. "What dew ye make it out fur to be?"

"Rum, an' not 'thunder,' mister," at once responded Hiram, equally laconically. "I guess if ye hedn't took to raisin' yer elber thet powerful ez to see snakes, an' hev the jim-jams, we'd all be now, slick ez clams, safe in port at 'Frisco!"

This home truth silenced the captain for the moment, but the next instant he startled us all with an utterly inconsequent question, having no reference to what he had before been speaking of.

"Where hev ye stowed it?"

Hiram stared at him.

"I don't mean ye," said the skipper, dropping his eyes as if he could not stand being gazed at; and I could see his face twitching about in a queer manner, and his hands trembling, as he turned and twisted the fingers together. "I mean the n.i.g.g.e.r an' thet other skunk thaar--the white man thet's got a blacker heart inside his carkiss than the n.i.g.g.e.r hez. Whaar hev they stowed it?"

"Stowed what, cap?" inquired Hiram, humouring him, as he now noticed, for the first time, in what an excited state he was. "I don't kinder underconstubble 'zactly what yer means."

"The chest o' gold," snorted out the skipper. "Ye know durned well what I means!"

"Chest o' goold?" repeated Hiram, astonished. "I hevn't seed no chests o' goold about hyar. No such luck!"

"Ye lie!" roared the captain, springing on him like a tiger, and throwing him down by his sudden attack, he clutched poor Hiram's throat so tightly as almost to strangle him. "I saw the n.i.g.g.e.r makin' off with it, an' thet scoundrel the carpenter; fur the buccaneers told me jest now. Lord, thaar's the skull rollin' after me, with its wild eyes flashin' fire out of the sockets, an' its grinnin' teeth--oh, save me!

Save me!"

With that, he took to crying and sobbing like mad; and it was only then we realised the fact that the skipper was suffering from another of his fits of delirium, though it was a far worse one than any we had seen him labouring under during the voyage.

Tom Bullover and Sam had the greatest difficulty in unclenching his hands from Hiram's neck and then restraining him from doing further violence, our unfortunate shipmate being quite black in the face and speechless for some minutes after our releasing him.

As for Captain Snaggs, he afterwards went on like a raging madman; and it was as much as Tom and Sam could do, with my help, to tie his hands and legs so as to keep him quiet, for he struggled furiously all the while with the strength of ten men!

In the middle of this, we heard a strange rumbling noise under our feet, the ground beginning to oscillate violently, as if we were on board ship in a heavy sea; while, at the same time, a lot of earth and pieces of rock were thrown down on us from the heights above the little plateau where the cave was situated. The air, also, grew thick and heavy and dark, similarly to what is generally noticed when a severe thunderstorm is impending.

"Oh, Tom!" I cried in alarm, "what has happened?"

"It's an earthquake, I think," he replied, looking frightened too.

"We'd better get under shelter as quickly as we can, for these stones are tumbling down too plentifully for pleasure!"

"Where can we go?" said I--"the ship's too far off. Oh dear, something has just hit me on the head, and it hurts!"

"Come in here to the cave; we'll be safe inside, if the bottom can stand all this shaking. At all events, it'll be better than being out in the open, to stand the chance of having one's head smashed by a boulder from aloft!"

So saying, Tom disappeared within the mouth of the cavern, dragging after him the prostrate form of the skipper, who appeared to have fallen asleep, overcome by the violent paroxysms of his fit, for he was snoring stertorously.

Sam and I quickly followed Tom, and the rear was brought up by Hiram-- now pretty well recovered from the mauling he had received at the hands of our unconscious skipper, the shock of the earthquake having roused up our shipmate effectually, while the continual dropping of the falling earth and stones, which now began to rain down like hail, hastened his retreat.

"I guess this air more comf'able," said he, as soon as he was well within our place of shelter, now so dark and gloomy that we could barely see each other, and Sam's colour was quite indistinguishable. "Talk o'

rainin' cats an' dogs! Why, the airth seems topsides down, an'

brickbats an' pavin' stones air a reg'ler caution to it!"

Hardly, however, had he got out these words than there came a tremendous crash of thunder, a vivid sheet of forked lightning simultaneously illuminating the whole interior of the cavern; and, to our great surprise, we perceived by the bright electric glare the figure of another man besides our own party--the stranger standing at the upper end of the cave, near the block of stone in the centre, where Sam had been seated when I had seen him playing the banjo, and Tom gave him such a fright by pretending to be a ghost.

Sam, now, like the rest of us, saw this figure advancing in our direction, and believed he was going to be treated to another visitation from the apparition which had terrified him previously, and which he was still only half convinced was but the creation of Tom's erratic fancy.

"O Lor', Cholly!" he exclaimed, in great fright, clutching hold of my hand, as I stood near him at the entrance to the cave. "Dere's anudder duppy come, fo' suah! My golly! What am dat?"

But, before I could say anything, much to our great relief--for I felt almost as much terrified as he--the voice of Jan Steenbock sounded from out from the gloomy interior in answer to his question.

"It vas mees, mein frents--it vas mees!"

"Goodness gracious, Mister Steenbock!" sang out Tom Bullover, looking towards him, as the hazy figure advanced nearer and became more distinct, although we could not yet actually see the second-mate's face.

"How did you get here?"

"I vas hoont aftaire ze cap'en," replied Jan, coming up close to us now.

"He vas get troonk, and go mat again in ze valleys beyont ze sheep, and I vas run aftaire hims, as he vas run avays, and den he vas go out of zight in one big hole at ze top of ze hill. I vas vollow aftaire hims, but den I loose hims, and ze erdquake vas come and ze toonder and lightning, and I vas zee yous and here I vas!"

"Oh, we've got the skipper all right," said Tom. "He nearly killed Hiram jest now in his frenzy; but we've tied him up with a lashing round his arms and legs, so that he can't get away and come to no harm till he's all serene again. I'm a-sitting on him now to keep him down; as, though he's sleepin', he tries to start up on us every minute. By Jingo! there he goes again!"

"He vas bat mans," observed Jan Steenbock, helping to hold down the struggling skipper, whose fits of delirium still came back every now and again. "He vas vool of mischiefs and ze rhoom! Joost now, he vas d.i.n.k dat he vas talk to ze boocaneer cap'en, and dat he vas show him dat dreazure dat vas accurst, and he vas d.i.n.k he vinds it, and dat I vas shteal hims avay."

"I'm jiggered!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Hiram, in surprise. "Why, he comed up hyar an' goes fur me to throttle me, sayin' ez how I hed took the durned treesor, tew. I guess I only wish we could sot eyes on it!"

"Bettaire not, mine vrents, bettaire not zee it no mores," said Jan, solemnly shaking his head in the dim light. "It vas accurst, as I vas tell yous, by ze bloot of ze schlabe dat vas kilt by ze Sbaniards. It vas only bringt bat look to ze beeples dat vas touch hims. Bettaire not, mein frent, nevaire!"